


blossom & decay

by Marenke



Series: Inktober 2019 [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Character Study, Gen, Ginny Weasley-centric, Inktober, Inktober 2019, Post-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-23 19:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20894930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenke/pseuds/Marenke
Summary: Ginny took all of her life to build a sense of self, to learn where she begins and where her brothers end.





	blossom & decay

**Author's Note:**

> Inktober prompt day 5: build.

Ginny took all of her life to build a sense of self, to learn where she begins and where her brothers end. It is harder than expected; Why develop a personality when there are six others to steal from? Why care, why do anything at all?

She gets her own personality and likes and dislikes nonetheless. She knows who she is, feet firmly planted on the ground and head in the clouds, trying to keep the quaffle in her hands long enough to score goals in a one person game of Quidditch.

Tom Riddle systematically dismantled her in _months_. It's almost _ridiculous _with how easy it is.

Ginny, after - after; there's not much more to be said about it -, stared, catatonic, at the stone ceiling above her head, on her own cot of the Hospital Wing. By her side, no one, and pale moonlights bathed her with gentleness Ginny felt she did not deserve. Tears stung at her eyes, but they didn't seem to come out.

"Hello there, Ginny." Said Luna, smiling, hair a halo around her head. She could be a ghost, Ginny noticed, thinking about Tom. "Are you well?"

"Should I be?" Ginny didn't bother with rising up, didn't bother with etiquette, keeping her eyes trained on the ceiling.

"Well, no. So, do you want cookies?" She put the box gently on Ginny's side, nudging it against her prone arm. "I asked daddy to send them. He just made them yesterday, too, but I don't think they're as good as mommy's."

Ginny's eyes left the ceiling, looking at Lunas earnest, honest face. She still called her parents by such childish terms - Ginny had never; her older brothers didn't, and she had wanted to feel grown up, so she hadn't as well -, before smiling, melancholic.

"I'll take one, then." She cautiously picked one from the box, chewing on it carefully, and when the taste hit her tongue, tears finally spilled from her eyes: the taste was the same, and it reminded Ginny of the long summer afternoons in the Lovegood household.

Luna smiled, blindingly bright. Tom had destroyed her in months; maybe Ginny could use the small pieces he had left behind to reform herself into a stronger person, with Luna's help.


End file.
